Hostels and boarding schools operated by BAPS have a distinct flavor that provide a loving, educational, healthy, and, most importantly, fun environment. These hostels and boarding schools educate children from kindergarten through college. Children are raised in a spiritual atmosphere with morning prayers, moral lessons, and celebrations of festivals and traditions. The schooling and housing is low-cost yet provide state-of-the-art facilities, a clean environment, and delicious cuisine. Tilak, at the BAPS Swaminarayan Vidyamandir in Mt. Abu, is hundreds of kilometers away from home, but rarely dwells on that fact: “Every time my mom calls, I tell her that I miss her but just a little. The teachers, gurumatas [caretakers], and Principal are really caring. They treat us like their own children.”